Retro Review: 1982 Renault Fuego Turbo 

​@causaps causaps I didn't make the original comment but I might be able to help. Up through the 1980s and into the 1990s (and the 2000s where I'm from), car enthusiasts in the US have generally had a blind dislike for cars from other countries. Almost all foreign cars had some problematic, seemingly made-up reputation. For example, I currently have a Fiat and an Alfa Romeo, and I previously had an Abarth that I raced. All three have been more reliable than any of the cars from US companies I have owned. Listening to car people in the Midwest US where I grew up, I would have thought all three would be painfully unreliable, difficult to work on, and plagued with rust. The best explanation I have heard for this comes from a RU-vid video about Detroit in the 1960s and 1970s. People in the US were often very loyal to one US automaker or another, and would buy whatever cars those automakers were selling without looking at any other options. Because of this the US automakers didn't have to try very hard, so when people finally started realizing that foreign (mostly Japanese, apparently) companies were building better, more reliable, more efficient cars they quickly started switching brands and left the US automakers struggling. Lots of US autoworkers lost their jobs, and placed all the blame on the invasion of foreign cars. Because of our insane levels of nationalism in the US, you weren't a "real American" if you liked anything other than cars from US companies. I think that might be where the comment about judging the car because it was French came from. Quite a lot of people back then just said "Oh this is just some crappy foreign car" and wouldn't care about it, or worse, would intentionally do a poor job to make foreign car companies look bad.

It's French, no surprise

@@80s_Boombox_Collector Engine fires and Cash for Clunker-type scrapyard incentives were the two best things to ever happen to these pieces-o-crap.

It was French, she was not!

@@80s_Boombox_Collector racist

@@TheHowardski Certain countries build better quality cars than others. France isn't one of them.

LOL

These days kids think cars are slow if they don't have 300 hp

I miss the 80’s. Great decade to grow up in

True. A better one.

Then I love alternate universes

Maybe one thing a month written on the internet makes me giggle longer than any sane person should. Yes, I said "giggle". This post did it. Thanks.

the bad breaks not being able to stop it is more worrying then 107hp lol

The back brakes are not great, and no ABS, front-heavy car also.

The suspension, adapted for USA was bad

Name one person that died in America in a Renault Fuego. You can't. No coincidences either. AMC was no more because of bad management and decisions, not because Renault Fuegos killed anyone, which is just about the most absurd thing I've read on RU-vid.

@@GlennC789 very few, specially in good condition unfortunately

french cars are shit in every where

@@gelvosky Peugeots and Citroen are even better.

@@gelvosky Says who? They didn't rust as bad as JDM cars and the french engines were reliable AF.

Damn, i didn't know that, i love the fuego even more now

I'm pretty sure that was the 1980 Lincoln Continental

I had a Renault 18 made in 84 also with that remote central locking

I watched the whole thing waiting for them to marvel at this newfangled feature for 1982, but the black plastic down the side was a more interesting thing to discuss I guess since they paid it no mention.

@@MrCarguy2 no; that car was the first with “keyless” locking, using the buttons on the pillar Ford still have today, but the Fuego was the very first with the remote keyless locking. Renault have actually had quite a few firsts and while a historic sideshow in the USA, are globally one of the largest car companies even today.

I had an 18i in high school. The only one probably in Ulster country! LOL. It was amazing to drive. Man those were the days...

Me too. I still miss it and the way it drove.

I have it rn

I love the 'The One To Watch' thing but I have been hard-pressed to find old magazine ads and memorabilia with it. I keep looking tho

right there with you!

marc, It's got the look 👀

I remember them, they were a good looking car at the time. Most cars then were pretty uninspiring.

corvusala yup. If i was queezy id vomit on first glance if this car drove by my window...

You'll be ahead in life if you run in the opposite direction from French cars.

Hah, just the opposite for me. I am old enough, and thought they were absurd and pointless at best back in the day, but now I'm kind of enamored with it. Just a quirky little thing unlike any other of its time or since, but with a unique charm.

Except for the GM EV-1, which is pretty annoying because that was a truly amazing and ground-breaking car

I believe, the T-1000 was their all time favorite!

Thats right. Even more so since 2005 onwards

mcqueenfanman Porsche has for a while. No dipstick even.

Some Renaults were very reliable in that time. Not this one .

John Davis HATES cars without oil gages!

My Citroen C5 has one that shows level Everytime you start it for 12 seconds. Never got too low on oil. Engine runs fine at 220,000 kilometers. They know most drivers get too lazy at wintertime.

Why? It is a smart idea.

Real flimsy, look like somewhere along its' life the steering wheel may yank out from the column (not inspiring)...

La-Z Rider My thoughts exactly.

The vertical-adjust lock is undone, he's showing how adjustable it is. Rock steady when locked.

what about it.

@@judgedread-q4t I owned this car and it was rock steady like you said

The americans got the discount version of the Fuego haha. AMC never built a decent car though. Too bad the americans didn't get to know the good ol 2.0 or 2.2

Renault Fuego = USS Excelsior

You're forgetting how much more horsepower today's engines have

If its figures had been calculated with currently EPA methods they would probably be a lot lower.

I loved mine too. Silver with cloth interior.

"Reliable, good looking, good quality build". Are you sure you're talking about a Renault? Or any Frog car?

scdevon there were a lot of Renaults bought and driven in the city I lived in with a heavy French presence. they lasted as long as any small car of its time. they were a stylish car.

That's great. Unfortunately, the buying public didn't share that opinion because Renault / AMC went bust in America. You have to sell cars to stay in business. "It's the good cars that sell" (Old auto industry saying).

scdevon well yes, which is why GM as well as Chrysler should not exist since they declared bankruptcy. Renault is a healthy vibrant company in Europe. Renault was aligned with AMC Jeep in order to give it more depth in vehicle offerings. it was a good marriage but too late to save AMC.

GM and Ford sell 250,000 vehicles EACH per month in America. There is "safety in numbers" in owning a Ford or a GM or a Honda or a Toyota. Service and parts support will be there for as long as a person reasonably cares to own those vehicles. The fact that "GM went broke too" isn't the same comparison. GM has the sales numbers and brand recognition and dealer network to recover from bad mistakes once they turn their game around. To Americans at least, Renault was a no-name car company sold by an already shaky AMC by hanging a shingle outside. Big difference.........

Post a video...they say theres 21 known left in the world...im sure the Argentinians freak out over it

@@netrioter Thank you, I might just do that

I miss my Fuego! Was my favourite car ever and I regret selling it.

@@netrioter Nah we don't, we have the Berta-factory tuned GTA Max which is everywhere. The european Fuego Turbo was the real deal, the americans got the discount 107hp version lmao.

rfdsdf1 ohh wee wee what trash lol

Yeah you're definitely right. There's another review on here for an Eagle where he says something along the lines of "In the future it will be Eagle not Jeep that is thought of as the real prize of the Chrysler acquisition of AMC"

I gotta wonder what could have been if Renault and AMC never met. At least one of them might still be around in this country.

You mean 3rd door :))

bad pun detected

my 2 litre fuego wasnt consuming any oil after 200k kilometres

i may not have a fuego but i can say that is a beautiful car and very reliable i am considerating in getting one or a torino NOT the ford torino

@@osvaldovidela6466 Wow, ford Torino....good choice. Fast even.

@@falconater68 Dude I'm talking about the IKA Torino

Analog RULES!

They had me at AM/FM stereo.

I miss those.

In a way yes, they did exactly that. Different engines and bumpers for either market. :P

I can say I very much enjoyed my 1993 Renault 19 1.9 Diesel until early this January. 317.000km (almost 200.000miles) no serious problems, very sturdy, drived like a charm and 23, almost 24 years of age, not bad for a French piece of junk, ah?

Daniel Peixoto Martins, Drivers have a lot to do with how long a car lasts...

Somewhat. But a poor design is a poor design, and all of the maintenance and care in the world can't help that.

justsomeguytoyou, Granted....

Aquí en Guatemala no he visto uno desde hace 15 años!!! Es bueno saber que hay otros países en dónde sí se ven...

@@felipeiturreyes3385 mano en argentina es cultura hay de maaaasssss

Clearly you had awesome parents.

The French are noted for soft riding cars. Good and bad.

My European GTX certainly doesn't do that. Definitely different suspension set up for the US models.

I do not know of which car you write. However, French cars have been soft riding throughout the years as a general rule and those Renaults of that vintage were designed (even the LeCar) for a soft ride. I remember driving an R4 as far back as 1959 and was struck at how softly it rode when compared to other imports from Europe in those days. I am unfamiliar with the ride quality of every European car and, except for luxury models I have considered buying, the newer ones overall.

I think they raised the suspension to meet lighting regulations for the US. @@cariusx

mipmipmipmipmip no shit. Moron.

even tought the non turbo model had a bigger engine the 2.2 litre found on the fuego gtx 2.2 and the 18 gtx 2.2

I have a 1981 non turbo Fuego

Lmao XD

In Argentina the renault fuego its famous because it ended a race while on fire. Juan Maria Traverso won the race in 1988 with the car lossing oil for several laps and in the end on fire

Knew an indian buffet that said "indian food on the flame"....the place burnt down

Lol

Lexus could name a car "No-Go" and the car would still be awesome. The name "Fuego" didn't make Fuegos burn up from engine fires. Lousy French engineering did.

Foo-way-go

Foo-way-ho. The g is pronounced like an h in Spanish.

Could have been worse and named it "Nova"...................NO GO!

@@aaronwilliams6989 not necessarily…. Fuego is pronounced Fweh-go. Look it up.

@@colinw996 That's what I was trying to say.

Back then I drove my Renault 16 from San Francisco to Canada and back with four people and luggage with no problems. But yes eventually big stuff broke and even the dealer was incompetent at repairs.

LOL 😆 so true....

I have it 😂

@Horatio Jones: I’m guessing, the hate towards French cars, in general; comes from previous owners who couldn’t take care of their cars, for the life of them, due to lack of responsibility/laziness*. *(From either; the owner, or the manufacturer.) Or, the old classic, Americanized Xenophobia; when, we ignorant Americans love to talk down a specific county’s line of products/culture. Without, respecting the country’s contributions; of said-market/culture. We’re kinda that scummy, towards other countries (other than, France/Europe); because, ‘Merica. I want French cars to come back to the U.S.; just to piss off people/xenophobes, who don’t like them before. (Plus, I’ve always wanted to have an old, 1990’s Citröen; because of, Gran Turismo 3 & Sebastien Loeb Rally Evo.)

@@taegonlewis1398 I think it may actually be an issue with the import process. It's nigh on universal that if you buy a classic Euro car or Japanese car not manufactured in the US, there's electrical problems, and if Fiat was involved, you either have rust or engine problems. Renault to a lesser degree is similar, and their partnership with AMC did lead to a shorter shelf life for their 80's cars. These seem to disappear overnight however if all parts were manufactured in an American plant though, so I have to assume at the time the US simply had different required specs American workers and manufacturers knew about and never told anyone about because it seemed too intuitive.

My dad had one. It was awful. *WHEN* it ran, it was alright. The problem was keeping it running. There is a reason Renault isn't sold in the US anymore. Think about. The "haters" must be right.

Only the Camry

All of them, more recently than that Fuego.

Camry, Corolla, and Civic. You can't kill a Toyota and a Honda's about 50/50 if you luck out and your transmission's blessed by God.

The Piazza was the Isuzu Impulse in North America. Haven't seen one in years. Never seen one on Curbside Classic or the like.

The geo storm GSI was also cool

pontiachotshot - That is not the Impulse you're looking for... Assuming you were basing your opinion on the Storm's Impulse roots. Same name, but ultimately a completely different car than what they are referring to.

I went to France once and they do design things "quirky" maybe it's normal to them...

Until the late 90's (maybe even later), all the French cars had horn on the turn signal lever, Nothing special with the Fuego, for that.

Did you really ask that? Do you enjoy sitting on the side of the road? Or maybe you would like to burn your garage down via your cars bad wiring? ...

Well, for one thing, how the hell did people know that these cars were like that from the start? It took 3 years for the sales of the Vega and Citation to drop off once people realized they were unreliable. These Renault​s were unpopular from the start.

Who said they did from the start? You need some rest, your mind is creating things that don't exist and making you ask silly questions that answer themselves..

There were way more domestic market brand loyalists back in the day. The people that learned the hard way and bought something like a Pinto in the 70s went straight to Japanese cars during the 80s.

America was still very xenophobic during the 80's and would do anything to shoot down foreign products.

STICH666 leggo my foo-eggo!

my eggo

Lol I look specifically for this comment thank you for being here😂

Lol, y'all are a trip!

Back then no such omission control thing yet. But the american markets tended to import cheap versions becoz price competition N tariffs for foreign cars.

The european Fuego Turbo was the real deal, the americans got the discount 107hp version lmao.